


An Attack of Conscience

by tearlessNevermore



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Gen, Snippets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 15:22:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18075947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tearlessNevermore/pseuds/tearlessNevermore
Summary: Draco has an attack of conscience in First Year and gets a bit better. He's still not friends with Potter, of course, he just doesn't want to see the idiot die.A snippet compilation. Blame SpokenSoftly for encouraging me to continue the first snippet and post the whole thing here.





	An Attack of Conscience

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Harry asked, turning to face Malfoy in the corridor, sure he'd misheard.

"I said that I'm sorry, Potter," Malfoy snapped. He was alone for once, seeming somehow smaller without his usual flunkies. "Do you need your ears cleaned out?"

"Sorry for what?" Harry asked, still immensely confused.

"For running away. In the Forbidden Forest." Malfoy swallowed, visibly uncomfortable. "And for—for making fun of Weasley and Granger. I—look, I messed up, okay? I already got a lecture on it. So I came to apologise, nothing more. You got that?"

"I think so," Harry said, still off-balance.

Malfoy didn't leave. If anything, he was glaring at Harry harder.

"Oh, right, apology accepted," Harry said awkwardly. "Err, good luck?"

"And to you also," Draco said, nodding curtly before striding away.

It was the first time Harry and Draco saw eye-to-eye. But not the last.

~tN~tN~tN~

"Go home."

Harry stared at Malfoy, confused and angry. The other boy had come up behind him in the corridor, this time with Crabbe and Goyle at his side.

"I mean it, Potter," Malfoy insisted. "Go back to that shack you call a home. Weasley and Granger too, if they have any sense. It's dangerous here."

"Dangerous how?" Harry asked, drawing his wand, ready to... throw sparks at Malfoy. Or something.

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Not from me, you idiot. From... I don't know what. I just know... Hogwarts is going to be dangerous this year. For Muggle-borns, blood-traitors, and you."

"And why are you warning me?" Harry asked, frowning. "Trying to scare me off before I can beat you in Quidditch?"

"I'm going to fly you into the ground," Draco said, sneering. "Don't get too full of yourself. I just think it'd be pathetic if the 'Boy Who Lived' died so soon."

"More pathetic if he—I mean, I ran away?" Harry challenged.

Draco seemed to consider the matter for a moment, then shrugged.

"Maybe. Well, I've warned you now." Draco snapped his fingers, causing his fellow Slytherins to turn and walk away down the corridor. Draco lingered a moment. "Do try not to get yourself killed, Potter."

"You too, Malfoy," Harry said automatically.

Draco rolled his eyes again and left.

~tN~tN~tN~

"I'm sorry."

"I thought you didn't know anything," Harry said through gritted teeth, not looking away from Hermione's petrified form.

"I don't, that was sympathy not an apology, you—"

Draco cut himself off and just shook his head before dropping into a chair on the opposite side of the bed.

"Where's Weasley? I thought you'd both be crying over her together?"

"Percy dragged him away a little while ago," Harry said, still not looking up. "Something about keeping him out of trouble."

"And he left you here?"

"I snuck back in."

Hermione, ever the diligent student, was now the subject of both Harry and Draco's stares. The Hospital Wing was quiet for a while.

"Father was behind this."

The admission was less than a whisper, barely even a murmur. It was enough to make Harry finally look away from Hermione to stare at Draco, who refused to meet his eyes.

"I don't know how and you'll never prove it. He wanted a way to get rid of Dumbledore, I think. Attacking Muggle-borns and blood traitors was just a bonus."

"Did he want to get Hogwarts closed completely?" Harry demanded in a harsh whisper. "Did he want to put Hagrid in jail and make everyone suffer?"

"I don't think so."

"Your dad's plans suck."

"I'm beginning to realise that."

They sat in silence for quite a while after that, ruminating on the year's events.

Draco didn't have any answers. Didn't bring them any closer to saving Hermione. But he was there. That was enough.

~tN~tN~tN~

"If you tried that in Snape's class, he'd have thrown you out of the castle."

"Not like you to gloat, Potter," Draco ground out, glaring at the Gryffindor who'd accosted him as he left the Hospital Wing.

"It's true," Harry insisted, meeting Draco's eyes without flinching.

Draco looked away first.

"Fine, I'm not going to try and... get back at that oaf you like so much. Or that beast who attacked me. You can go back to your friends and stop pretending to care now."

Draco started walking down the hallway.

"Madam Pomfrey can fix injuries like that in an instant," Harry said, matching Draco step-for-step. "I thought you'd like an opportunity to finish your lesson though."

"Finish my lesson?" Draco asked, one eyebrow quirked.

Harry nodded.

"Hagrid still has Buckbeak out and you don't have any more classes today."

"How generous of you Potter," Draco drawled, "to give it a shot at my other arm. I think I'll have to decline."

"Alright then," Harry said, his face not betraying anything. "I just never thought I'd see the day Draco Malfoy let himself be beaten by a hippogriff."

Draco stopped walking, arresting Harry's own path.

"You didn't even know what a hippogriff was before today," Draco snapped, glaring at the Gryffindor. Draco hesitated for the moment, then doubled down on the venom in his stare. "Now show me the be—Buckbeak. I'm going to fly it for twice as long as you did."

~tN~tN~tN~

"You aren't going after Black, are you, Potter?" Draco hissed during Potions, one eye on Snape.

"Why would I go after someone who wants to kill me?" Harry murmured back, before thinking for a moment."If they aren't literally Voldemort. Or have a hostage. Or are stealing a Philosopher's Stone."

Draco rolled his eyes.

"I honestly thought you'd be tearing at the walls to get at Black, after what he did."

"Black's not the only mass murderer Voldemort had," Harry whispered, frowning. "What makes Black special?"

Draco nearly fumbled his next ingredient.

"You mean you don't know?" he whispered, his voice nearly rising above the rest of the class. "Nobody told you?"

"Told me what? That Black is after me?" Harry shot back.

Draco just shook his head.

"Don't you read the newspapers, Potter? Black went to Azkaban for the murders of Peter Pettigrew and a street full of Muggles, but that was only after... Look, I'll tell you later. Wait around after class and I'll find somewhere private. And Potter?"

"Yes, Malfoy?" Harry said, confused and wondering what Draco was talking about.

"I'm sorry."

~tN~tN~tN~

"Enjoying the World Cup, Potter?" Draco asked, ignoring the hostile glares from the Weasleys and the reprimanding look from his father.

"Only just got here but it seems like it'll be fun," Harry said, awkward. "Who're you supporting?"

"Ireland," Draco said without batting an eye. "I prefer to back the winning team, after all."

"Draco, stop making a scene," Lucius muttered, tugging his son away by his shoulder.

"See you in Hogwarts, Potter," Draco said as he was led away. "I'm sure you'll find many new and exciting ways to get into trouble again this year, given so many opportunities."

"What opportunities?" Harry half-yelled back, craning his neck to keep sight of Draco.

"You'll see soon, Potter, you'll see soon."

~tN~tN~tN~

"Congratulations, Potter, you outdid yourself."

"We don't need your gloating, Malfoy," Hermione snapped, glaring at the boy lounging against the doorframe of the abandoned classroom.

"Temper, temper, Granger," Draco said, one eyebrow raised reprovingly. "I just wanted to congratulate Potter on exceeding expectations. I didn't actually think you'd find a way into the Tourna—"

"I didn't do it." Harry wasn't looking at Draco, his eyes were fixed on the desk in front of him. "I didn't put my name in, I didn't do anything to the Goblet, I didn't ask anyone else to do it for me."

A pregnant pause.

"Well, that sucks," Draco muttered, making a face. "Looks like trouble's come for you instead of letting you chase after it. For once."

"Wait, you believe him?" Hermione asked, looking back and forth between them in confusion.

"Of course I do. Potter's a terrible liar," Draco snorted. "But that's beside the point. It doesn't matter if you did it or not, now you—"

"I have to compete, I know."

"—have to win. You can't afford to settle, can't hold back."

"What?" Harry and Hermione said in unison, looking wildly at Draco, who no longer smiled.

"You're in the Triwizard Tournament, Potter. Maybe they made it safer, but they've already failed once. You can't afford to play it safe, that just gives you a chance to be cornered. Take the advice of a Slytherin and don't just plan to survive. Aim to win."

A pause.

"That being said, I'm still betting on Diggory."

~tN~tN~tN~

The door of the carriage opened, admitting one Draco Malfoy.

"He's back then?" Draco said to Harry, ignoring Ron and Hermione as Crabbe pulled the door closed behind them, standing guard outside.

"He is," Harry said quietly.

"And dad was there?"

"Yeah."

"He really does make bad plans."

Draco collapsed into the seat next to Ron, a moody expression on his face. Ron tried to edge away from him, disgusted.

"Be careful, Potter," Draco said quietly. "You too, Granger, Weasley. He's going to come after you all. And don't count on me risking my neck for your sakes either, that's Gryffindor talk."

"You be careful too, Malfoy," Harry replied, just as quiet. "I don't think he's a fan of your family at the moment."

"As if I need the warning." Draco rolled his eyes. "See you around, Potter. Or not."

"Draco," Harry called before the other boy could leave the carriage.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."


End file.
